The 


American Board 


I a raat lite “2s WOM oer TEFEN 


What It Is. 4 
How It Works. * 
Where It Works. 
The Forces at Work. 


1913-1914 


PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN BOARD 
OF COMMISSIONERS 
FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS, 


14 BEACON STREET, BOSTON, MASS. 


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The American Board 


WHAT IT IS 


T is the oldest foreign mission- 

ary society in America, having 
been organized June 29, 1810, at Brad- 
ford, Mass., during the session of the 
General Association of Massachusetts. 
Its charter was received from the 
General Court of Massachusetts in 
1812. Its object, as stated in its char- 
ter, was “for the purpose of propa- 
gating the gospel in heathen lands by 
supporting missionaries and advanc- 
ing the knowledge of the Holy Scrip- 
tures.” From the beginning it sought 
the co-operation of all Christians, 
without distinction of sect, who de- 
sired “to propagate the gospel among 
the unevangelized nations.” This un- 
denominational character has been 
maintained through the century of its 
life. During the century various re- 
ligious denominations have  with- 
drawn from its support, believing 
they could labor for the same great 
object more efficiently through de- 
nominational boards, but the Amer- 
ican Board, still receiving support 
from churches and individuals of 


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different names, is in the main sup- 
ported by Congregationalists. 


HOW IT WORKS 


The Board is composed of Corpo- 
rate Members; at the beginning the 
number was nine, but there has been 
a gradual increase until in 1914 the 
number is 380. These Corporate 
Members are elected by the Board it- 
self, but in recent years, in large de- 
gree, on nomination of State or local 
Conferences in the different States of 
the Union. After 1915, the members 
of the National Council will become 
members of the Board, in place of 
those now nominated by ecclesiastical 
bodies. 

A Prudential Committee of twelve 
members, of which the President and 
Vice-President of the Board are e-+- 
officio members, is chosen to conduct 
the affairs of the Board during the 
interim between the annual meetings. 
This Committee meets at the Rooms 
of the Board in Boston, usually week- 
ly, directs the conduct of the mission- 
ary work, appoints missionaries, and 
designates fields of operation, seeks 
to secure funds for the support of its 
work, and appropriates the same. 
Three Corresponding Secretaries, for 


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the Home and Foreign Departments, 
are appointed, and one Editorial Sec- 
retary. These officers, with two As- 
sociate Secretaries and the Treasurer, 
meet with the Prudential Committee, 
but have no vote 


The Prudential Committee also ap- 
points district secretaries for the In- 
terior and Pacific Districts, at Chicago 
and San Francisco, and assistants in 
the Home and Foreign Departments. 
One of the General Secretaries of the 
Board is now located in New York 
and has special charge of the Middle 
District in addition to participating in 
the general administration of the 
Board. 


In close co-operaton with the 
American Board are three Woman’s 
Boards, each having a separate or- 
ganization, and directing their efforts 
in behalf of women and children. 
The missionaries they adopt receive 
appointment from the American 
Board, and their appropriations pass 
through the Board’s treasury. Their 
united contributions for the year 
1912-13 amounted to over $294,694. 

The cost of the work, involving 
the maintenance of over 600 mis- 
sionaries; grants, for native Christian 
laborers, numbering about 5,000; 


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grants for schools, colleges, hospitals, 
industrial work, etc., together with the 
work at home, called for an expendi- 
ture of $1,055,921.71 in the year 
1912-13. The total cost of collecting 
these funds and the support of offi- 
cers, agents of all kinds, publications, 
correspondence, and all home ex- 
penses was eight and one-half per 
cent. 


WHERE IT WORKS 


The American Board has twenty 
missions, of which three are in Africa, 
four in Turkey, three in India and 
Ceylon, four in China, one each in 
Japan, the Philippines, Micronesia, 
Mexico, Spain and Austria. The 
principal statistics of each of these 
missions are given here, arranged in 
the order of their establishment. 

1. Marathi, in Western India, 1813. 
Stations, 9; out-stations, 144; mis- 
sionaries, 45; native helpers, 436; 
churches, 60, with 7,699 members, 
382 added last year; pupils under in- 
struction, 6,905. 

2. Ceylon, 1816. Stations, 6; out- 
stations, 23; missionaries, 15; native 
helpers, 486; churches, 21, with 2,170 
members, 109 added last year; pupils 
under instruction, I1,294. 


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3. Western Turkey, 1819. Sta- 
tions, 6; out-stations, 97; mission- 
aries, 74; native helpers, 450; church- 
es, 44, with 4,384 members, 175 added 
last year; pupils under instruction, 
9,427. 

4. Madura, in Southern India, 
1834. Stations, 10; outstations, 353; 
missionaries, 44; native helpers, 798; 
churches, 35, with 7,610 members, 395 
added last year; pupils under instruc- 
tion, 12,615. 

5. Zulu Branch, South Africa 
Mission, 1835. Stations, 10; out-sta- 
tions, 90; missionaries, 26; native 
helpers, 645; churches, 26, with 
6,307 members, 560 added last year; 
pupils under instruction, 5,491. 

6. Eastern Turkey, 1836. Stations, 
53; out-stations, 95; missionaries, 47; 
native helpers, 352, churches, 51, 
with 3,098 members, 143 added last 
year; pupils under instruction, 7,563. 

7. Foochow, in Southeastern China, 
1847. Stations, 5; out-stations, 98; 
missionaries, 46; native helpers, 302; 
churches, 73, with 2,616 members, 355 
added last year; pupils under instruc- 
tion, 2,753. 

8. Central Turkey, 1847. Stations, 
6; out-stations, 61; missionaries, 39; 
native helpers, 362; churches, 37, with 
6,835 members, 157 added last year; 
pupils under instruction, 7,478. 

Micronesia, in the Caroline, 
Gilbert, Marshall and Mariana groups, 


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1852. Stations, 5; out-stations, 38; 
missionaries, II; native helpers, Ior; 
churches, 36, with 5,126 members, 554 
added last.year; pupils under instruc- 
tion, 2,500. (Last year’s figures. ) 
10. North China, 1854. Stations, 
7; out-stations, 89, missionaries, 68; 
native helpers, 250; churches, 11, 
with 4,355 members, 335 added last 
year; pupils under instruction, 1,947. 


11. European Turkey, 1859. Sta- 
tions, 6; out-stations, 52; mission- 
aries, 33 native mi helpers yoo 5 
churches, 21, with 1,640 members, 
126 added last year; pupils under in- 
struction, 788. (Last year’s figures. ) 

120 e)apan, 1 OOO mn otations ater 
out-stations, 55; missionaries, 66; 
and, including statistics of Kumi-ai 
churches, 152, with 21,170 members, 
and 410 added last year; Japanese 
laborers, 149; pupils under instruc- 
tion, 2,050. 

13M Opal 16724 taG Ol ties Ota 
stations, I5; missionaries, 5; native 
helpers, 28; churches, 8, with 247 
members, 44 added last year; pupils 
under instruction, 891. 

TARA eXICOs 1G 72 sa LALiOnsas 4 
out-stations, 52; missionaries, 12; na- 
tive helpers, 24; churches, 14, with 
1,156 members, 36 added last year; 
pupils under instruction, 650. (Last 
year’s figures. ) 

TS sUiStlid lOc eum OLation, il, 


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out-stations, 66; missionaries, 4; na- 
tive helpers, 32; churches, 27, with 
2,065 members, 109 added last year. 

16. West Central Africa, 1880. 
Stations, 5; out-stations, 32; mission- 
aries, 31; native helpers, 231; church- 
es, 5, with 948 members, 146 added 
last year; pupils under instruction 
4,327. 

17. Shansi, in Northwestern Chi- 
na, 1882. Stations, 2; out-stations, 
16; missionaries, 18; native helpers, 
89; churches, 2, with 386 members; 
pupils under instruction, 585. 

18. South China, 1883. Stations, 
1; out-stations, 41; missionaries, 7; 
native helpers, 118; churches, 3, with 
5,000 members, 365 added last year; 
pupils under instruction, 659. 

19. Rhodesian Branch, South Af- 
rica Mission, 1893. Stations, 2; out- 
stations, 5; missionaries, 18; native 
helpers, 24; churches, 2, with 236 
members, added last year, 6; pupils 
under instruction, 489. 

20. Philippine Islands, 1903. One 
station at Davao, Island of Minda- 
nao; ott-stations, 12; missionaries, 4; 
native laborers, 10; churches, 1, with 
104 members, 11 added last year; pu- 
pils under instruction, 239. 

In these 20 missions there are now 
104 stations, at which missionaries 
reside, and 1,434 out-stations, where 
regular work is maintained, under the 


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supervision of the missionaries, but 
in the immediate care of native labor- 
ers, ordained and unordained. 


THE FORCES AT WORK 


The total number of American mis- 
sionaries connected with these 20 mis- 
sions is 613, of whom 169 are or- 
dained, 192 wives of missionaries, and 
206 unmarried women. Of the total 
number 47 are physicians. The native 
force working with our missionaries 
is over eight fold larger, namely, 
4,993. Of these natives, 312 are or- 
dained, 565 preachers wunordained, 
2,722 teachers, and 1,388 are laborers 
in other forms of Christian activity. 

The Churches. There are now 629 
churches, connected with which are 
83,152 communicants, of whom 3,990 
were added by confession the past 
year. The number of adherents in 
connection with these churches is in- 
completely given as 193,742. Statis- 
tics, also incomplete, report 1,269 
Sunday-schools, with over 74,100 
scholars. 

The Schools. It is in the training 
of the young who can become preach- 
ers, teachers, and laborers for Christ 
in all lines, that the hope of the mis- 
sionary work lies. In the missions 
of the Board there are 1,503 schools 
of all grades, having under instruction 
78,051 students. Of these schools, 14 


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are theological and training schools 
and 148 are colleges, boarding, or 
high schools. Over 15,000 of the pu- 
pils are in schools of higher grade, 
and from among their number are 
coming many most efficient Christian 
laborers. 

Medical Work. The 47 medical 
missionaries of the Board, 13 of whom 
are women, are doing a wide human- 
itarian work closely identified with the 
preaching of the gospel—maintaining 
27 hospitals, 44 dispensaries, etc.— 
reaching annually over 350,000 pa- 
tients, and thus most effectively pre- 
senting the gospel of the Great Phy- 
sician to people who are quick to re- 
ceive their beneficent ministrations. 


Christian Literature. The Board’s 
missionaries are engaged in giving to 
the people of different lands a pure 
Christian literature. Millions of pages 
are sent out each year, carrying the 
Word of Life in the languages of the 
different countries where work is 
done. 

The Industrial Department. More 
and more is it felt that in connection 
with the schools there is need of train- 
ing the hand and eye as well as the 
head and the heart, and in the line of 
self-help, as well as for the best devel- 
opment of the pupils, industrial train- 
ing is now introduced in many of the 
schools. In this way many pupils are 


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largely supporting themselves, while 
they are being prepared for Christian 
service. 


THE DEPARTMENT FOR 
YOUNG PEOPLE 


With over three thousand Christian 
Endeavor Societies and over six thou- 
sand Sunday-schools to reach, this de- 
partment has a large field. Two dis- 
tinct methods are being pushed. 

The first is Missionary EDUCATION. 
The emphasis of the year is placed 
upon missionary education in the Sun- 
day-school, and plans will be sent up- 
on application to superintendents and 
teachers for this great work of the 
church. Wherever the matter can be 
enthusiastically presented to Sunday- 
school classes the interest is genuine 
and deep. ‘“Five-Missionary-Minutes- 
a-Sunday,” is the new method of pre- 
senting brief exercises. Attractive 
courses in mission study have been 
prepared for the young people of the 
Endeavor Societies and the Sunday- 
school. Supplemental helps in the 
way of instruction to leaders, charts, 
maps, etc., are supplied for all courses. 
We have special programs on our 
great missionary heroes and on our 
varied fields, ready for use. Up-to- 
date pamphlets are being issued to 
make the missionary enterprise vital 


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and interesting to the young people of 
the new generation. Leaders of young 
people should be in touch with the 
department. 

The second great method is THE 
STATION PLAN. The result of mis- 
sionary instruction should be mission- 
ary giving, and missionary giving 
among young people can be greatly 
increased by having definite work on 
the field. Tue Station PLAN MEANS 
Your Own Worx Asroap. Share- 
holders receive an engraved certificate 
for the wall and four report letters a 
year from the Station chosen. The 
personal touch with both the work and 
the workers has stirred new interest 
among the shareholders who num- 
ber nearly one thousand. Let us help 
you introduce this plan. 


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Send Contributions to Frank H. Wiggin, Treasmrer, 
14 Beacon St., Boston, Mass. 


Literature and leaflets of the American 
Board may be had by addressing: 
Joun G. Hosmer, Congregational House, 

14 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass. 
Or at the District Offices: 


Rev. Epwarp Lincotn SmitrH, D. D., 287 
4th Avenue, New York City. 

RewrA. NeW HircHcock,) DY D429) So. La 
Salle Street, Chicago, Ill. 


Rev. H. Mervirte Tenney, D. D., Lachman 
Bldg., Fremont and Market Sts., San 
Knancisco,,Gale 


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